Controlling system for railway vehicles and trains.



No. 803,214. PATENTED OUT. 31, 1905.

J. L. caousri.

CONTROLLING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES AND TRAINS.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 22. 1903- 3 BHEETS-SHEET 1.

15 33 16 :30 muawtoz of GM PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905.

J. L. GROUSB.

CONTROLLING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES AND TRAINS.

APPLICATION TILED JAN. 22. 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

34 avvuewtoz 35 1i flmzm%if gg wilwmww No. 803,214. PATENTEDDGT. 31,1905.

J. L. CROUSE.

CONTROLLING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES AND TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22. 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET a.

4.5140041 {fez m/ q/ud N gww UNI ED STATES PATENT orrron JOHN L. CROUSE,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO WESTINGHOUSEELECTRIC -& MANUFACTURING COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1805.

Application filed January 22,1903. Serial No. 140,067.

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, JOHN L. CRoUsE,a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Controlling Systems forRailway Vehicles and Trains, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to systems and apparatus for controlling theoperation of motors which are employed for propelling railway vehiclesand trains; and it has for its object to provide safety deviceswherebythe powercircuit will be automatically opened and the brakes applied incase the handle of the manually-operated governing-switch is released,thus insuring an effective safeguard against accidents by reason ofcarelessness or disability of the motorman.

My invention is illustrated and for convenience will be described asapplied to an electropneumatic system substantially such as is set forthin Patent No. 624,277, granted to George Westinghouse May 2, 1899, andthe modifications thereof set forth in Patents Nos. 682,828 and 684,609,granted to E. R. Hill September 17, 1901, and October 15, 1901,respectively. I desire it to be understood, however, that suchillustration and description is not intended to restrict the inventionto any specific type of controlling system, nor is it to be consideredas necessarily limited to systems in which the brakes are pneumaticallyoperated.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a front elevation of a manuallyoperated governing-switch.Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the switch shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 isa perspective view of the operatinghandle of the governing-switch andsome of the parts which directly cooperate therewith.

. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the handle and a portion of the casingof the governing-switch, the safety-switch being shown in elevation.Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the principal electropneumatic devicesutilized in my invention. Fig. 6 is a view, mainly in section, of theparts shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of atrain equipped with my invention, and Fig. 8 is a diagram of theswitches and electric circuits employed by me.

In general it may be stated that the system to which my inventionpertains provides for the synchronous operation of two or morecontrollers located either upon one car or upon a plurality of cars,vthelatter arrangement being that usually employed in order that the desiredpower for propelling a train may be applied to a plurality of cars whichmay either constitute the entire train or, as is usually the case, becoupled with one or more cars which are unprovided withpropelling-motors. In order that all of the motors may be operated insynchronism, it is obviously necessary that the controllers be sooperated and that their operation be governed from a single point, thispoint being at any desired place on any one of the cars, but preferablyon the forward end of the forward car of the train. In the system setforth in the patents hereinbefore mentioned the severalmotor-controllers are actuated simultaneously step by step by means ofcompressed air derived from suitable reservoirs through a trainpipe, andthe air from the same source is also utilized for braking purposes.

.' The application of fluid-pressure to the controller-operating devicesis effected by means of electromagnetically-actuated valves, thegoverning-magnets being energized from a battery-circuit which is openedand closed in accordance with the movements of a manually-operatedgoverning-switch, except that when the said governing-switch is moved tocircuitclosing position the step-by-step movement of the controllerswill be continued automatically until a certain predetermined positionis reached, when the movement will cease and will be resumed only whenthe handle of the governing-switch is moved to another on position.

The governing-switch 1 (here shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and partly in someof the other figures) comprises a drum 2, mounted upon a shaft 3, havinga pinion 4, stationary contact-terminals 5, with which the contacts onthe' drum 2 engage in order to make the desired circuit connections, acasing 6, a rack 7, which engages with the pinion 4, springs 8 forautomatically returning the drum 2 to zero or off position from anyposition to which it may be manually moved in either direction, anoperating-handle 9, having a stop-latch 10 and a pin 11 for raising thefree end of the same, and a toothed segment 12, the teeth 13 of whichserve by engagement of the free end of the latch 10 therewith toindicate to the motorman the running positions corresponding to whichthe handle must be stopped, and having also a lug or projection 14,which indicates the zero or off position of the switch.

The parts of the governing-switch thus far described pertain to myinvention only in the sense and to the extent that they cooperate withthe means which will be now described for effecting the new result.

* glivotally mounted on the inner face of the front plate of the casing6 and just beneath the stop-piece or lug 14 is a switch member 15,having oppositely-projecting arms 16, which are normally heldsubstantially parallel to said plate by means of suitable springs 17.The switch member 15 is also provided with two arms 18, that projectlaterally therefrom through openings 19 upon the two sides-of the lug 14and sufliciently beyond the outer face of the casing to be engaged bythe latch 10 when the arm 9 is returned from any point in either itsforward or reverse direction to its zero or off position by means of thesprings 8 and the rack and pinion operated thereby. When the member 15is rocked in the one direction or the other by the means abovespecified, it forces the one or the other of the arms 16 into contactwith the corresponding stationary contact-terminals 20, which aresupported from the casing 6 by means of suitable brackets 21. Thecorresponding contact-terminals 20 of the two pairs are connectedtogether by means of conductors 22, and these conductors 22 arerespectively connected to the terminals of a battery 23 by means ofconductors 24 and 25, and in the conductor 25 is included the coil of anelectromagnet 26, the armature 27 of which has a stem 28, that isprovided with a valve 29, a coiled spring 30 being provided for normallyholding the same to its seat, whereby it closes a passage leading fromthe train-pipe 31 to the end of a cylinder 32, this passage comprising abranch pipe 33, passages through the valve-casing 34, and a pipe 35,leading from the said valvecasing to the cylinder 32. The cylinder 32contains a piston 36, that is normally held in one end of the cylinderby means of a spring 37 and its stem 38 projects through the other endof the cylinder in position to en gage the stem 39 of a valve 40, thatis normally held to its seat by a coiled spring 41.

This valve 40 when lifted from its seat vents the train-pipe to theatmosphere through a branch pipe 42, the valve-casing 43, and a pipe 44.The connection between the auxiliary reservoir 46 and the train-pipe 31and the connection 47 between the auxiliary reservoir and a main orsupplemental reservoir 48 are such that the venting of the trainpipeserves to effect such movement of the brake-lever and rod mechanism 49as to set the brake-shoes 50 in the usual manner.

It will be seen from the foregoing description, in connection with thedrawings, that the handle 9 of the governing-switch when released willreturn instantly to the zero or off position and the latch 10 will engae one or the other of the switch-arms 18 an close the circuit of thebattery 23, which battery may be the one employed for energizing all ofthe magnets of the controlling system. The battery-circuit being thusclosed, the magnet 26 will serve to unseat the valve 29, thus admittingcompressed air from the train-pipe to the cylinder 32, and this air willlift the piston 36 against the action of the spring 37, and this pistonwill serve to unseat the valve 40, thus venting the train-pipe to theatmosphere and effecting the setting of the brakes in the usual manner,as above set forth. When the handle of the governingswitch is againmoved away from stop 14 in either direction, the spring 17, which isunder compression, will serve to open the safetyswitch, and thusdeenergize the magnet 26, whereupon the spring 30 will close the valve29, the air in the cylinder 32 will exhaust through the small exhaustort45 above the valve 29, the valve 40 wil be seated by the spring 41, andthe brakes will be released in the usual manner.

As has already been stated, my invention is not necessarily restrictedto electropneumatic controlling systems or, in its broadest aspect, toemployment in connection with air-brakes, since the closing of thesafety-cir cuit might be utilized to effect the application of othertypes of brakes. It is to be understood also that the invention may beembodied in apparatus the details of construc tion of which vary largelyfrom what is here shown, and I thererfore do not intend to limit myinvention, except as limitations may be imposed by the prior art.

I claim as my invention 1. In a controlling system for electricallypropelled vehicles or trains, the combination with a brake-setting meansand a governingcircuit therefor, of a governing-switch having amanually-o erated handle and a spring for causing said handle to closesaid governingcircuit when released by the motorman.

2. In a controlling system for electricallypropelled vehicles or trains,the combination with a brake-setting means, of a governing-circuit, amanually-operated switch for said circuit, a brake-controlling circuit,a normally open switch therefor having means engaged by the handle ofthe governing-switch,

8.- In a vehicle or train controlling system, the combination with agoverning-switch having a spring-restrained, manually-operated handle,of pneumatically operated brake-setting means, an electric controllingcircuit therefor and a normally open switch for said circuit which isclosed by the governing-switch handle when released by the operator.

4. In a vehicle or train controlling system, the combinationwith agoverning switch having a spring-restrained, manually-operated handle,of a pipe for compressed air the venting of which serves to set thebrakes of the vehicle or train, a valve for venting said pipe, anelectromagnet for unseating said va ve, and a normally open switch forthe circuit of said electromagnet the movable member of which projectsinto the path of movement of the governing-switch handle so as to bemoved to circuit-closin position when said handle is automatica yreturned to open-circuit position. 5. In a controlling system forelectricallypropelled vehicles or trains, the combination with aspring-restrained, manually-operated governing-switch, of brake-settingmechanism, a control-circuit for said mechanism and a governing devicetherefor so locatedas to be actuated by the movable member of thegoverning-switch when released.

6. In an electropneumatic controlling system for vehicles or trains, thecombination with air-brake mechanism and an electric governing-circuittherefor having a normally open switch, of a manually-operatedgoverning-switch for the vehicle or train propelling mechanism and aspring or springs for causing the handle of said switch to close thebrake-governing switch when said handle is released.

7. In an electro neumatic controlling system for electrica ly-propelledvehicles or trains, the combination with brake-setting mechanism and anormally open controllingcircuit therefor, of a governing-switch for thevehicle or train propelling mechanism having a spring-restrained,manually-operated handle and means engaged by said handle, whenreleased, to close the brake-controlling circuit and thereby effectapplication of the brakes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day ofJanuary,

J OHN L'. CROUSE.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CAPEL, Tnos. H. BRowN, Jr.

